Game maker Blizzard has announced that Diablo III will be available for purchase in a couple months.
The official launch date has been confirmed as May 15. “After many years of hard work by our development team and months of beta testing by hundreds of thousands of dedicated players around the world, we’re now in the homestretch,” Blizzard CEO Mike Morhaime said in a statement.
Fans of its two predecessors are understandably excited about the potential of a new entry in the series. Diablo III will, of course, be a hack-and-slash adventure with epic environments and awesome graphics.
Diablo II came out in 2000, so it’s understandable why gamers are salivating for a brand new experience. Despite being 11 years old, the game does have a strong following and has received continuous updates over the years, but Diablo III was built from the ground up to take the fanstastical world to the next level.
The game is arguably one of the most anticipated PC titles of the entire year. But Blizzard’s community manager, who goes by the online name Bashiok, said gamers shouldn’t go into it with unrealistic expectations.
In an official blog post, he wrote, “Part of my job is managing people’s expectations, so… eh… stop it. Stop thinking about how awesome this game could be. Just imagine it’s a new M. Night Shyamalan movie. Sure Sixth Sense was amazing and Unbreakable had it’s moments, but this right here is the sequel to The Village … or The Happening … or Signs … or any of the movies besides the two I first mentioned. So just like, lower those expectations, but still definitely buy the game please, and everything will be just fine. K?”
While sobering, it was nice to see someone actually be frank and honest with the consumers they’re marketing to.
Nevertheless, the sheer brand power of Diablo is sure to make it a blockbuster hit, a much-needed one in a day and time where PC gaming is on the decline.
